A letter from Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot (c.1149)

Translated letter:

To the Illustrious Lady Sanchia, Queen and Aunt 1. of the Emperor of Spain, Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux: Health and prayers. WHEN WE HEAR OF YOUR DEVOTION from our Brother Nicholas, we give thanks to God and pray that he would in his compassion deign to reward in measure the faith and trust you have in us. A share in the spiritual fellowship of our house and of our prayers, as you have desired, I happily grant; also that it will be such a great a share for you as it is for anyone of us, as much in life as in death. On another matter, we find it necessary to ask your further assistance concerning the brothers of Carreda, for through your niece and by their very selves they spread calumny against us. Concerning the monastery…2. therefore it behooves us to provide GOOD THINGS, NOT ONLY IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, BUT ALSO IN THE SIGHT OF MEN [Rom.12:17], and so we desire in every way to proceed in this matter, in order that our goodness BE NOT BLAMED [2Cor.6:3], lest those men have opportunity for detraction. Therefore we resign this matter to you, in order that you may be zealous to curb this scandal. And if they should not otherwise be willing to put a stop to it, then, as is proper, may you both be willing, and take action to put an end to this controversy by means of the judgment of the Lord Bishop of Zamora and the Lord of Austurias. For when whether by admission of fault or the judgment of the bishops it becomes known that they have nothing by which they can, or ought, speak against us, we are prepared, with God’s help, thus to arrange a place where your devotion may rejoice and God may be glorified in your work.3.

Original letter:

Illustri dominae Sanciae, reginae et materterae Imperaroris Hispaniarum, Bernardus, Claraevallis vocatus abbas: salutem et orationes. Devotionem vestram ex relatione fratris nostri Nivardi audientes, gratias agimus Deo et oramus ut, secundum fidem et fiduciam quam habetis in nobis, vobis retribuere pro sua pietate dignetur. Fraternitatem domus nostrae et orationum nostrarum, sicut desiderastis, gratanter vobis annuimus, et ut tantumdem pro vobis fiat, quantum pro uno quolibet nostrum tam in vita quam in morte. De cetero necesse habuimus suggerere praestantiae vestrae de fratribus de Carreda, quia per neptem vestram et per seipsos calumniam nobis struunt. De monasterio... oportet ergo nos providere BONA NON TANTUM CORAM DEO, SED ETIAM CORAM HOMINIBUS , omnimodisque cupimus sic procedere in hoc negotio, UT NON VITUPERETUR, bonum nostrum nec, homines illi occasionem habeant detrahendi. Proinde remisimus ad vos negotium, ut scandalum istud compescere studeatis. Et si aliter noluerint illi desistere, iudicio, ut dignum est, Domini Zamorensis Episcopi et Domini Asturicensis, velitis et faciatis hanc controversiam terminari. Ubi enim vel eorum confessione, vel episcoporum iudicio innotuerit non habere eos unde adversum nos super hoc possint vel debeant reclamare, parati sumus, iuvante Deo, sic ordinare locum, ut et vestra devotio gratuletur, et Deus glorificetur in opere vestro.

Historical context:

Bernard wrote two letters to Sancha about the affiliation of the Benedictine abbey of Toldanos (epp.301 and 455). Gerhard B. Winkler (in his German translation of Bernard’s letters, Bernhard von Clairvaux, Samtliche Werke [Innsbruck: Tyrolia, 1992] 3.1218), explains that Sancha, the king’s sister, had written to Bernard at the behest of the abbot of Carracedo who opposed the new affiliation of Toldanos with Clairvaux which had been requested by Sancha’s niece, Elvira, the founder of the monastery, and the abbot Ferdinand of Toldanos. Bernard, relying on the word of his brother, Nivard, entrusts a resolution of the situation to Sancha, but making it clear that the Clairvaux affiliation is God’s will. Winkler notes that the address of ep.455 to the king’s aunt is incorrect; she is his sister.

Scholarly notes:

1. The address is incorrect. Sancha is the sister of the king, Alphonse VII. 2. There is a lacuna in the text here. 3. Rev. Maurus Mount provided the translation.

Printed source:

Sancti Bernardi, Opera, ed. J. Leclercq, H. Rochais (Rome: Cistercians, 1974), v.7.430-31, Ep.455.

Date:

c.1149